Ventilating system for buildings.



H. J. WAGNER.

VENTILATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS.

APPLICATION FILED 0O'1.14, 1911.

1,057,599. Patented Apr. 1,1913.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1. EIZT. I

gvwwvto'o wi/tmmoeo H J 3 n COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON, D. c.

H; J. WAGNER.

VENTILATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS.

APPLICATION FILED 001214, 1911.

1,057,599. Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

alien m1 COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPIA C0,, WASHINGTON, D c.

H. J. WAGNER VENTILATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS.

APPLICATION FILED OOT.14,

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3v COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH $0., WASHINGTON. D. c

H. J. WAGNER.

VENTILATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS.

APPLICATION FILED 00114, 1911.

1,057,599, Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

4 5HEETSSHEET 4.

Ii [Zn-E3 I IE;&

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (30.,WASH1NGTON, D. c

HENRY J'. WAGNER, OF DELLWOOD, NEW YORK.

VENTILATING SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

Application filed October 14, 1911. Serial No. 654,620.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. WVAGNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at- D'ellwood, in the county of Erie and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilating Systemsfor Buildings, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to themcompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved ventilating system for buildingsand has for its object to provide comparatively simple and very ehicientmeans whereby a thorough circulation of air through the walls of thebuilding and the apartments thereof may be obtained.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a hollowparapet wall arranged upon the building wall or roof and havingcommunication with an air passage in the latter, and means arranged inthe parapet wall whereby a draft of air is forced through the hollowbuilding wall and into the apartment.

A further object of the invention is to provide an effective system ofventilation whereby the heated or impure air is quickly dischargedthrough the building wall to the atmosphere and a copious supply offresh air admitted to the apartment, the outlet passage for the impureair including the gutter of the building, and means for draining waterfrom the building roof into said gutter without interfering with thefree passage of air therethrough.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a hollow gutterhaving drainage openings in its top, said gutter being arranged upon abuilding wall provided with an air passage, a hollow parapet wallarranged upon the building wall or roof and communicating with thepassage thereof, and a cap arranged over the drainage openings of thegutter to prevent the entrance of cold air therethrough and direct theheated air into the parapet wall.

l/Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists ofthe novel features of constructiom.combination and arrangement of partshereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of aportion of a. building wall in which my improved ventilating system isincorporated Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 22 of Fig.1; Fig. 3 is a similar section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4is a section taken on the line 4-4; of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section takenon the line 55 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of therotatable rod showing the air directing vanes which are carried thereby;Fig. 7 is a detail vertical section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 2; andFig. 8 is a detail vertical section illustrating a slightly modifiedconstruction.

Referring in detail to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 to5 thereof, it will be observed that the invention in its preferredembodiment is applicable to buildings of that character in which aparapet wall is built above the cornice and roof of the building.

In the drawings 5 designates the outer building wall, and 6 the innerwall of the building which is arranged in spaced parallel relation tosaid outer wall to provide the vertical air passages 7. It will beobvious that the building walls may be constructed in the manner of theordinary hollow concrete wall if desired to provide these air passages.However, transverse walls are arranged between the inner and outerbuilding walls to divide or separate the passage for the outgoing airfrom the passage for the incoming cold air.

A combination cornice and gutter of similar construction to thatdisclosed in my prior Patent #1,002,611 issued September 5th, 1911, isemployed in combination with the improved system of ventilation formingthe subject matter of the present application, and this gutter consistsof the lower blocks 8 and the upper blocks 9 which are molded of cementor other plastic material. Between the inner edges of these gutterblocks 8 and 9 the cornice blocks 10 are arranged and disposed invertical alinement with the outer building wall 5'. The roof supportingI-beams 11 rest upon the upper gutter blocks 9 and the spaces betweenthese I-beams are filled in with cement as indicated at 12, said cementfilling being of a thickness equal to the thickness of the building wall5. The upper gutter block 9 is provided with a plurality of drainageopenings 13 which not only serve as drainage openings for the water fromthe roof but also as outlet openings for the heated impure air, thecornice blocks 10 being provided with openings let connecting the hollowgutter with the passage 7 into which the heated air is admitted as shownin Fig. 3.

In order to preventthe ingress of cold air through the openings 13 Iprovide an inclined cap or cover 15 for the top of the gutter, the outeredge of said cap resting against the-upwardly inclined face 9 of the topgutter blocks and the inner upper edge of said capbeing braced andsupported by means of the bolts 16 which are connected thereto and tothe outer ends of the I-beams 11. This cap may be in the form of aconcrete slab or of other material if desired, and at its outer edge isprovided with a plurality of openings or recesses 17 whereby the waterwhich may collect in the outer edge of the gutter will be drained off tothe interior of the gutter through the drainage openings 13. The trough17 of the gutter in which the water finally collects and flows to thedischarge pipe is disposed considerably below the air openings 14 in thecornice blocks so as to overcome all danger of water entering throughsaid openings into the air passages 7.

The parapet wall hereinbefore referred to consists of the outer andinner vertical walls 18,.and 19 respectively which are spaced to providethe verticalpassage or channel 20. This parapet wall may be of oneheight across the entire front of the building if desired and providedwith a single central transverse partition to divide the impure airpassage from the communicating cold air passage. As shown in thedrawings, however, I preferably construct this parapet wall at its endswith the shorter portions 21 which is provided in its front and rearwalls with the downwardly and outwardly inclined air escape openings 22.These shorter portions of the parapet wall provide the hot air channelsor passages and by reducing the wall in height at this point, the coldair is admitted to the upper ends of the higher portions of the wallupon all sides thereof, the walls of the cold air passage being providedwith a large number of downwardly and outwardly inclined openings orperforations 23 so that the cold air may have free entrance into thepassage between the para Jet walls. The parapet is of course providewith a top wall 24: and an ornamental coping 25 of any desired charactermay be arranged upon the front of the parapet.

As shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings a supportingbraoketor spider 26 isarranged in the walls of the cold air passage of the para-' petandin'this bracket the lower end of a vertical rod 27 is journaled, theupper end of said rod being also journaled in a bearing 28 secured tothe under side of the top parapet wall 24. Upon the upper end of thisrod and opposite the openings 23 in the walls of In order to obtain aforced draft of air downwardly into the cold air passage 7 between thebuilding walls, I provide a motor '55 of any suitable construction whichis arranged between the spaced walls of the parapet and upon the shaftof this motor a miter gear 57 is secured and meshes with a similar gear58 which is secured upon the lower end of the vertical rod 27. The gear57 is keyed upon the motor shaft for longitudinal sliding movement andis provided with a collar to which one end of a lever 59 is looselyconnected. This lever extends through the rear wall of the parapet andis pivotally mounted therein intermediate of its ends, said levercarrying a holding dog for engagement with the teeth of a rack 60 whichis secured upon the rear face of the wall 19 of the parapet. Thus itwill be seen that by moving this lever, the gear 57 may be movedlongitudinally upon the motor shaft into or out of engagement with theteeth of the miter gear 58. In this manner positive rotation is impartedto the vertical rod 27 so that the vanes 29 thereon will draw the airthrough the openings 23 in the parapet wall and force the samedownwardly into the cold air passage 7 between the building walls. Adoor 20 is provided in the rear wall of the cold air passage so thataccess may be had thereto at any time for repairing the air directingmeans which is arranged therein.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2 the filling 12 between the I beams andimmediately below the cold air passage in the parapet wall is atelyabove the floor. The inner wall of the building is provided with anopening 34 over which said base board extends and the board is providedwith a plurality of air inlet openings 35. A valve plate 36 is arrangedbetween the inner and outer building walls and is hinged to the formerat its lower end as indicated at 87. This valve plate is adapted to fitinto the opening 34 in the building wall 6 to close communicationbetween the apartment and the air passage 7. The means for actuating thevalve plate consists of a foot rod 88 which is pivotally connected to alink 39 which in turn is pivoted to the valve plate 36. The rod 38 ispivoted intermediate of its ends in an opening provided in the baseboard 33 as indicated at 40. By forcing the foot rod 38 toward the wallof the apartment the valve plate 36 may be swung to its closed position.A hook or catch of any character may be employed to engage the footrodand hold the valve closed.

To control the entrance of the cold air to the passage 7 between thebuilding walls a valve plate 41 is arranged between the upper throughthe building walls and the outlets.

22 to the atmosphere. To this end the filling 12 between the I beams isprovided with a second inclined directing face 44 which extends in aplane at right angles to the first mentioned directing face 30. The roofcovering 45 which is supported by the I beams 11 extends at its frontedge over the upper end of this inclined face 44 and the rear parapetwall 19 is provided with the drainage openings 46 at its lower end whichare in line with said inclined face. The water is thus drained from theroof through said openings and over the inclined face 44 into the troughof the top gutter block 9 and.

through the openings 13 of said gutter block into the hollow gutterfro-1n which it is finally discharged through the ordinary drain pipearranged at one end thereof. The protecting cover 15 which is arrangedover the openings 13 will prevent leaves or other matter accumulating inthe trough so that the drainage openings are at all times unobstructed.

The apartment or room is provided with a sheet metal perforated molding47 which may be of any desired ornamental configuration in cross sectionand extends over an opening 48 in the inner building wall 6. The impureheated air rising to the ceiling of the apartment finds its escapethrough the perforated molding and the opening 48 into the passage 7between the building walls, from which it passes through the opening 14in the cornice block and the heated air continues in its passage throughthe latter opening and into the hollow gutter. From the gutter theheated air rises through the drainage openings 13 in the top gutterblock 9 and is directed by the inclined cap 7 into The lower end of therod 42 and between the spaced walls ofthe-para= pet. This passage isunobstructed and when the hot air strikes the top thereof it readilyfinds an outlet through the openings 22 to the atmosphere. In thismanner the hot air is quickly discharged and at the same time the coldair maybe admitted to theapartment which acts to more-quickly drive theheatedair out and lower the temperature. The opening 48 in the innerbuilding wall 6 is also adapted to be closed by means of the valve plate49 which is weighted-adjacent.

to its pivoted end so as to move by gravity to its open position. Anypreferred means may be employed for closing the plate but asshown a cord50 is provided which passes over a guide roller 51 arranged upon oneedge of the opening 48 and behind the mold ing 47. closed by simplypulling upon the chain and a nail or hook may be used to receivea ringon the end of the chain and hold the valve plate closed.

In order to slightly heat the incoming cold air I provide a steam pipe52 which is ar ranged between the inner building wall 6 and the baseboard 33, said base board and wall being offset in opposite directionsas in-' idicated at 53 to space the same whereby the chamber 54 isprovided through which the cold air passes as it enters the room throughthe openings 35 in the base board- I f In Fig. 8 I have illustrated amodification of the invention wherein the cornice and gutter aredispensed with and the parapet wall alone is employed. This wall is ofsubstantially the same construction as in the The valve plate 'may bereadily.

preferred form of the invention except that the rear vertical wall 19thereof is disposed in alinement with the inner wall 6 of the buildingso as to increase the capacity of the air passages between said walls.In this air take substantially the same course through the buildingandparapet walls as that previously described for the admission The inofthe cold air to the apartments. clined directing faces 30 and 44 arenot, however, necessary in this modified construction as Wlll be obviousfro-m a comparison of Figs. 2, 3 and 7. The drainage trough'or tion andis arranged directly upon the top of the roof and against the rear faceof th wall 19 of the parapet.

From the foregoing it 1s believed that the constructionand operation ofmy improved.

ventilating system will be readily understood. The apparatus provides acontinuous circulation of air between the wallsof the building so thatthe temperature of the apartments may be readily regulated. It

will also be observed that the dead or impure air does not remainbetween the building walls but is immediately discharged to form of theinvention, the hot air and cold 1 gutter 56 may be of any preferred,construcwall, a gutter mounted thereon and means the atmosphere owing tothe continuous draftof cold air which is circulated through the buildingwalls. The system may be readily installed in a building atcomparatively small cost and is very eificient in practical use.

While I have shown and described the preferred construction andarrangement of thevarious parts, it will be obvious that the device issusceptible of a great many modifications in the details of constructionwithout departingfrom the essential feature or sacrificing any of theadvantages thereof.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is 1. In buildingconstruction, a building wall, a gutter mounted thereon and means forsupplying) a current of warm air to the gutter, said uilding wall havingan outwardly and downwardly inclined face above the gutter, an inclinedcap plate arranged over the gutter and resting thereon at its outeredge, said cap plate being provided with openings through which water isdrained into the gutter, the roof covering of the building projectingover the inclined face of-the building wall and being spaced from theinner edge of the cap plate to ad mit ofthe escape of the Warm air.

2. In building construction, a building for supplying a current of warmair to the gutter, said building wall having a downwardly and outwardlyinclined face to direct water from the roof of the building into thegutter, an inclined cap plate, arranged over the gutter and resting uponthe same at its outer edge, the inner edge of the cap plate being spacedfrom the roof covering of the building to permit of the escape of thewarm air, the warm air current contacting with the cap plate, heatingthe same and melting accumulations of snow and ice thereon, said capplate being provided in its outer edge with openings through which thewater is drained into the gutter.

3. In building construction, a building wall, a gutter mounted upon saidwall and means for supplying a current of warm air to the gutter, spacedwalls mounted upon the buliding wall and extending above the roof of thebuilding, means for directing the Warm air from the gutter into thespace bet-ween said walls, the roof covering of the building extendingbeneath one of said spaced walls to drain water from the roof into thegutter.

4. In building construction, a building wall, a gutter mounted thereonand means for supplying a current of warm air to the gutter, front andrear spaced walls mounted upon the building wall and extending above theroof of the building, means arranged over the gutter to direct the warmair therefrom into, the space between said latter walls, said buildingwall having an inclined face, the roof covering of the buildingextending beneath said rear wall to discharge the water from the roofupon said inclined face whereby the same is directed into the gutter.

. 5. In building construction, a building wall, a hollow gutter mountedupon the same, and means for supplying a current of warm air to saidgutter, the top wall ofthe gutter having a plurality of openingstherethrough, front and rear spaced walls mounted upon the buildingwalland extending above the roof of the building, an inclined cap platedisposed over the openings in the gutter wall and resting at its loweredge upon said gutter, said lower edge of the cap wall being providedwith openings to drain water from said wall into and through theopenings in the gutter wall, the rear wall extending above the buildingwall being provided with openings through which water is drained fromthe roof into said gutter.

6. In building construction, a building wall, a hollow gutter mountedupon said wall and means for supplying a current of warm air to thegutter, front and rear spaced walls mounted upon the building wall andextending 'above the roof of the building, an inclined cap wall arrangedover the gutter and resting upon the same at its outer edge, said capwall being adapted to direct the warm air from the gutter into the.space between said front and rear walls,

said walls having a plurality of outlet openings for the warm air, saidrear wall being provided with openings at its lower edge, the buildingwall having an outwardly and downwardly inclined face, the roof coveringof the building projecting beneath the latter openings in the rear walland extending over the inclined face of the building wall to dischargewater drained from the roof into the gutter.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

HENRY J. WAGNER. Witnesses:

J. O. GARRE'rsEE, MELVILLE J. SNYDER.

. (opiu of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

